We just got back from the doctor's office. My husbandhas lost another 8 pounds and is at 150 now. The doctor is very adament that I give him some liquid suppliment as well as the three meals a day he is eating and the snacks. Can you give me any recommendations and what you have used and found to be effective? He is at Stage 6 plus now. Sally
The facility where my husband is was giving him an extra sandwich along with his lunch and dinner and yogurt shakes. That seems to have done the trick as he is up over 150 now.
They always tell me what a good eater his is and when I am there, he almost always finishes everything on his plate.
There is also Ensure that can help - does he like milk shakes or smoothies? I was giving my DH a milkshake (chocolate of course) with some of his meals before putting him in a facility. He liked it and as it was part of dinner it was okay.
Sally-if you're not worried about cholesterol (and why would you) try adding a raw egg into almost everything you cook-like hamburger, soup, potatoes. You could also use condensed milk when making pudding. There are lots of protein powders found at health food stores to add bulk. Good luck, bluedaze
Or fill the blender 1/2 full of ice cubes, a can of Eagle Brand, a teaspoon of vanilla flavoring, and 4 cups of milk. Blend until very smooth......YYUUMMM That will add pounds....and taste good.
My husband has lost over 30# since late March...(I think he passed it directly to me). He likes being on the thin side, but at 6'6" he is starting to look scrawny. He is now having Ensure twice a day as a snack...Costco best value spot as it is $$ stuff. They only carry vanilla,but we add squirt chocolate to it for variety.
I buy that protein powder at Costco since I think it is at least half the price of Ensure. I put in fruit, yogurt, milk and make a smoothie out of it. In the vanilla you can put in peanut butter. When my previous husband had cancer I got the fortified milk they had at Safeway to get the most calories in the smallest amount of consumption. If you worry about constipation you can put in bran too. (Not that I'm being successful since my DH isn't gaining weight!)
My husband is not nor every was a big eater. I have a hard time getting him to eat a whole sandwich. He may once in a while eat some pudding but I really almost have to charm him to the extreme to eat it. He will usually eat half of his dinner and then give the rest to me to eat. I have decided to just put some veggies on my plate and move them around while he eats and then finish whatever he gives to me. I have lost 40 pounds because I was overweight and still am,and have type 2 sugar and certainly don't want to gain it back. Losing proposition, he loses and I try but am not so successful. I appreciate your comments and will give each and every one of them serious thought. Sally
I too just got home from the Drs office and my DH has loss 6 lbs in last 3 months. He has maintained the same weight for years. I know this doesn't sound like a lot to many of you but, he usually only weighs about 148 and is 5' 9". He can't afford to lose many pounds. I thought the weight loss only started when they were stage 6 to 7. Maybe the 6 lbs means nothing...I don't know.
Lynn has always had a good metabolism. Eats whatever he wants and never gains weight. That use to be a good thing. But now he is down to 122 pounds and nothing I do seems to help. He eats at least 5 meals a day, has ensure, shakes and snacks. I am truly worried about the weight loss, but the doctor says it is just part of the process *sigh
Almond butter and peanut butter for calories and protein
Pudding (some people have suggested freezing protein shakes just to the thickness that they'll stay on the spoon)
Mashed potatoes (sometimes mashed with other foods he might like, cheese, sour cream, onions or scallions, etc)
Milkshakes made with real ice cream plus something like Carnation Instant Breakfast or protein powder to add nutrients.
Add calories to everything he eats. Instant potato flakes will thicken anything in seconds, and do not change the flavor.
Protein powder with a French Vanilla flavor, mixed with everything a little sweet -- apple sauce, pudding, bananas, anything with sweetness and the right consistency.
Make a "breakfast pudding" of bananas, protein powder, wheat germ, heavy cream and a flavored extract. If it's too runny when you're done, add some baby oatmeal dry cereal to it. If you need a sweeter version, add some seedless "Simply Fruit" to it.
Citrucel and Vanilla flavored protein powder tastes like a "dreamsicle" and adds fiber and protein all at one time.
is there anyone here whose spouse has maintained the same weight after stage 5? my DH started losing about then and steadily loses a few lbs/yr even though he eats everything. i wont give ensure it gives me poo patrol..no thanks! i do give lots of calorie laden icecreams..he will eat that -unfortunately , getting out one bowl for icecream is impossible. divvi
lol I had to giggle at the peanut butter. Lynn has always loved it, but now he eats it ALL the time. Partly because he likes it, but I think part of it is he likes to be a bit independent and its the only thing he can now "make" by himself. We have a family joke, that we can't afford to put Lynn in a nursing home, as we spend his check on peanut better!! He eats between 1 and 2 of the 4 pound jars every week!!!
bluedaze, I visit "the other site" regularly (incognito, of course!), to see what tips are being posted. I just do a quick copy-and-paste of any practical ideas into different lists for solving different problems. I don't need most of them yet, but someday I may, and if I don't already have the tips, I might not know what search words to use ... or what innovative spelling the poster may have used. :-)
So Nikki, have you tried Haagen-Dazs chocolate-peanut butter ice cream...?
I got home at noon today and my husband was eating lunch. This is instead of eating lunch at 10 a.m. as he's been used to doing. The CNA said he'd spent three hours, well 2.5, eating breakfast!! He eats and eats. Doesn't lose weight, nor gain it. Stays about 135 lb - still to heavy to easily pick up if he falls.
The hospital sent him a questionnaire to fill out about his experience there. I gave it to him. He has spent half an hour so far happily filling in the bubbles!
briegull ... LOL. What an innovative way to keep your husband occupied!
Speaking of bubbles reminded me of Mary's idea for stress relief, so I just went to do a little bubblewrap popping... Our newbies may not have seen it:
So he filled out the questionnaire, and I heard him putting something in an envelope, and checked before he'd sealed it - he'd closed in the cover letter, left the questionnaire on the table. It was then dinnertime, he followed me into the kitchen.
The market had one of those fresh express complete salads on sale, so I gave him the salad bowl, opened the lettuce bag and left him with the scissors to open the 'trimmings' bags, and went on to fix the rest of dinner. Turned around to find he'd opened only the dressing, which then was smeared on the croutons, the cheese bag, and the sun-dried tomato bag.
My husb has gone from 180 lbs to 205 lbs and is in stage 6. He was a size 34 waist shorts last father's day & now is a 38, but may not be long if he keeps on eating! I'm not worried because I've been told they can lost so much so fast ~ His cholesterol and BP are fine; no other health problems. All I can figure out is that he stopped any "major" form of exercise and he had ALWAYS exercised for years...today he did get on the treadmill for 10 minutes and said "that was nice". :) I guess for now, I will enjoy the weight gain and keep encourage his eating well. Sorry some of y'all are really struggling with this issue.
DH has lost about 50 lbs since he started with symptoms. What gets me is that Dr's don't seem to acknowledge that AD causes this. The neurologist and the vaccine trial Doc both suggested something else must be going on with him. I've learned a lot from this site that you don't get from Dr's! Of course it makes sense that the brain deterioration causes them to not absorb calories/nutrients the way they should. It's frustrating that dr's don't know this?
I think I'll try the supplements or the shakes. For me, the weight loss has been one of the most emotionally difficult things about all this. DH was such a big, hearty guy when I met him 11 years ago, and now he's so gaunt and sickly looking. It is heartbreaking.
Kelly, best of luck trying to add on some weight to your DH. Lynn just can't gain no matter what I do. I would say that most doctors DO know weight loss is common as it is all the literature I have seen. Perhaps you could bring them in some print outs LOL. It is hard to watch them lose so much. Lynn is down to 122 and it is hard to see, but then I think of trisingers wife who has gained a few pounds to get up to 76 pounds........... makes me stop and count my blessings. Any more weight gain trisinger?
gaunt and pale that is what AD's picture is at our stage as well. my DH has a huge personal gym, sauna downstairs he loved to work out and now he looks emaciated and so pale with those sunken hollow eyes. he still is at 149 but he was at 174 at dx. i dont think even all the neurologists are up and up on what AD does to the body-the only thing worked for me was bvitamin complex to stimulate appetite. ensure gives diahrea in alot of people, and we dont need that. give them fast food if you want high calorie intake! hamburgers/fries/shake is huge calories..not so good for other medical issues but if they are losing lbs oh well.. divvi
My husband went from a size 34 to a 40 in about 6 to 8 months. When he was first diagnosed he would barely eat. I was told by his doctor not to worry, to let him eat whatever he wanted, snacks, fruit etc. Well then he went the other way and he started to eat like there was no tomorrow. The doctor said that one of his meds is the culprit for some of the weight gain. And he also said that there will come a time, when I wished he would eat, and that he would loose weight.
Weighings are on Mondays, so I'll find out today what the weight is. I'll let you know. I've been going by to give her pineapple and peaches, kind of fruit salad type thing.
She's fallen a few times, not any loud smack on the floor, mostly just misjudges the couch and slithers off to the floor. She's so active, walking around and all that, that it's inevitable. I hold my breath all the time. yhc
I will keep my fingers crossed ((trisinger)) I am sorry to hear she has fallen, but yes I guess it is inevitable. Better than being bed ridden.
I hope everyone’s loved ones are able to gain weight. Lynn simply can't! He eats and eats and EATS! Even his doctors have run out of suggestions. But, like I said, hearing stories like trisinger's DW, and other who can't even eat now... do put things in perspective for me. But, it is still hard to see, and I can't help but worry.
Carma - It sounds like you & I are on the same track with our loved ones. I'll be interested to hear if things change for you. Out of curiousity, what med did they tell you was the "culprit" to the weight gain? I'm just wondering if my husband is on the same...Thanks! Debbie
Trisinger, so so sorry about your wife falling...that's so hard, but as Nikki said, probably inevitable if she is moving about and so frail. Hopefully she will not sustain any broken bones, for that may take yet another path. You are so good to your wife...it make me smile inside & out to think of you sitting with her & helping her with the peaches & pineapples.
We actually got good news at the doctor visit for DH yesterday, hes gained 4 pounds. He went from 165, which was his weight for 30 years I know of ,to 140 in less than six months right when we began noticing things with his memory. Hes stayed at that weight till just recently. He eats very well and get his 10 m&m's during tv time. It has to be 10 for some reason. We've tried everything too, makes no difference what or how much he eats, just stays so thin.
I went to visit yesterday. My husband (6’2” and 180 in the old days) is down to 130 lbs. He is having trouble swallowing, so hospice is going to order “thick water” for him – they put something in it that makes it the consistency of honey, so it’s easier to swallow. He does eat ice cream and will drink a protein shake. At this point, I just wish he'd quit eating entirely and go to sleep. He cries when they move him. I don't know if it hurts or if he's frightened. It is so hard to witness the slow, inexorable grinding down of this man I loved so much. And no one will tell me how much longer this torture is going to go on. I’m just sick with sorrow and feeling like I failed him in some way.
beenthere, your post had me in tears. I can't imagine the hell you are in, that your poor husband is in. I am so sorry for the tragedy of it all. I wish there was something I could do for you yet all I can offer is to listen and give you a tight cyber ((hug)) ~Nikki
beenthere-my husband will be going down the same path as yours. You surely didn't fail him and I didn't fail my husband. It does make me feel awful waiting for death.
Beenthere, I have "been there" and let me tell you something.....you did not fail your husband. You have honored your husband by your loving care....you have been tested in ways that no one should have to be tested...and you passed!
What is happening is an end to the journey and the trip is not a pretty one. But, please know that you are not alone....we who have gone before you are here to lean on and those who will come after are here to hold your hand.
Oh Starling, I wish I could wrap all of you in my arms and help somehow. I wish I could watch all of your dear ones and let you all go off for a day of fun and laughter. I wish, I wish, I wish.....
beenthere - i'm so sorry for your pain and hurt...i feel the same that you do in that I wish I could have my husb back the way he used to be...i miss him so much, as i feel you miss yours. Here for you, my friend...
Thank you everyone for your kind words. This site is really a godsend. I'm better today. Wish we all could get off the rollercoaster. I think of you all out there somewhere - it seems like there is an invisible epidemic - I don't see you on the street, but I can feel your suffering all across the country.
Why do we feel so responsible??? It's nuts, but I can't seem to shake it.
beenthere, so sorry for all you are having to go thru here in end stage. you are walking where none of us want to go but will inevitably will follow. hugs, divvi
Dear Beenthere--I'm so sorry. i cannot imagine the pain you are in. I'm so very sorry. Wish I could help. And, you have done everything anyone could have done. Please don't torture yourself with "what if's." All you'll do is add to your pain.